Tatum

Remember when you were a kid, and you would spend hours running around outside discovering new things? Yeah, so do I.

Meet snakey,

And sweet Tatum. She is one of my favorite people to hang out with. Let me give you an example of why: Today, we were playing at the creek, and she screamed my name, and pulled me by the arm. When I came to her, she pulled me to the bridge and said, "come to the bridge and you'll find something wondrous!" At which point she picked a flower from the tree, let me breathe in it's sweet fragrance, and placed it carefully behind my ear.

We'll just call it a celebration.

So, we had our teaching education program graduation last night. It was kind of a joke, but was sweet none-the-less. It was nice to celebrate having completed the quarter from hell, but I have two more before I actually "graduate." Oh well, it was a good enough reason to celebrate with the fam!

Pre-ceremony drinks. Cheers!

Nothing says "congratulations" like chicken feet!

My trusty cohort (The red folders contain a certificate saying we've earned our teaching license. But do we have it? No. Will I have it this summer like it promises? Nope. Ha.)

School's Out for the Summer!

We played hard this week!

We danced.

and face painted.

And they presented me with a memory book at my farewell celebration. Each of them has a page on which they attached their picture and wrote a note. Pretty cute, huh? I'll share my favorite:

Dear Miss Lee,

I enjoyed you a lot this year why I liked you was because you always made me happy. Remember the time when we hung out together? I liked that because you were always smiley and happy and really funny. So ya, that touched me.

Sincerely,

Anya

P.S. Hi :) :)

I bought a graduation dress.

And I'm pretty excited about it :). $11, baby!

P.S. Don't make fun of the fact that I took a picture of myself, or that my room is a sty! Thanks.

Livin life 2.0 with Christine

Soakin up the sun!

On the last Saturday of every month, our church serves together. This morning, we did a 5k together, then cleaned up the trail by Platte River. Good times.

I think he loves me :)

He drove up to Denver this afternoon, because my kiddos were having their end of year "Concert on the Green." He wanted to come be a part of the festivities. So, he made the drive, took me to dinner, pulled out the old blanket, and sat in the grass (as uncomfortable as it was for him) to watch my class sing their ridiculous songs. Hee.

Do I regret signing up for this program? No. Would I have been a better student teacher had I not had a full course load? Probably. Do I still want to be a teacher? Most days. Does it frustrate me that this is what society defines as success? Yup. Am I ready to go a full day without tears? Absolutely! Am I counting down the days? You better believe it!

I miss my friends, I miss my guitar, I miss the piano, I miss full nights of sleep, I miss enjoying who I am, and I miss taking a deep breath and not quivering on the exhale.

Summer, bring it on!